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Thursday, October 31, 2013

Chocolate Zucchini Cake

Here's a treat for Halloween. The zucchini here makes the cake very moist, and the espresso powder enhances the chocolate flavor. I'm not a huge fan of frosting, so I love the chocolate glaze, too. As I looked up the source to post, I found a note about mixing the chocolate chips with half-and-half as another topping option, which sounds decadent.

Now for the trick. My boys' birthdays are 5 days apart, on either side of Halloween. I made this cake for the October birthday, but guess what. Mom was the only one to eat a piece! Next year I'm putting candles in ice cream.

A note about altitude: I have made both the original recipe and a cake with altitude adjustments. I can't remember a difference, but I also haven't tried them side by side.

Icing:
1 c chocolate chips (I used dark this time, but might try semi-sweet next time)

Preheat the oven to 325°F. Lightly grease a 9x13 pan.

In a large mixing bowl, beat together the butter, oil, sugar, vanilla, baking soda, baking powder, and salt until smooth. Beat in the eggs. Stir in the sour cream, buttermilk, or yogurt alternately with the flour. Add the cocoa and espresso powder, mixing until smooth. Fold in the zucchini and 1/2 c chocolate chips. Spoon the batter into the prepared pan.

Bake the cake for 30 to 35 minutes, until the top springs back lightly when touched, and it seems set. To ice the cake: Slide the cake out of the oven, sprinkle it evenly with the 1 c chocolate chips, and return it to the oven for 5 minutes, or until a cake tester inserted in the center comes out clean. Remove the cake from the oven, and use a cake spatula or rubber spatula to spread the chocolate chips into a smooth glaze. Cool on a rack.